For handicapped persons having only limited use of their arms, accomplishing on their own mundane tasks on a daily basis, such as drinking or brushing teeth for example, is a complex procedure. Luckily, robotic arms have been designed or adapted to provide them much needed help.
Many of these robotic arms have been prototyped and much research on this topic is still going on in universities. Unfortunately, not that many robotic arms have successfully made it to the marketplace. Many robotic arms are expensive, as they were not designed for mass production. They are also not well adapted for a mobile use since they are bulky, have a low load capacity to weight ratio and are not easily transferable from one place of use to another (for example from a wheelchair to a counter). Moreover, their design is sometimes prone to inflicting injuries to a user or a bystander, such as pinching fingers in the arm's joints. This is especially true close to the manipulator, or gripper, area of the robotic arm, which normally uses more of its available movement amplitude.
Over the last decade, there have been many interesting attempts to produce a convenient portable robotic arm. However, every design has always left something to be desired. There is therefore a clear need for an improved portable robotic arm.